At eight o'clock in the morning, a procession of chariots and horses with an honor guard drove out of the north gate of Baiyun City.
Su Hanju, the king of Zhennan, was sitting in a large and comfortable carriage. He opened a corner of the carriage curtain and looked at the rapidly retreating Baiyun City in his field of vision and the people kneeling on both sides of the road to see each other off. Tears welled up in his sunken eye sockets, showing his expression. Deep feeling of reluctance.
He has lived in Baiyun City for decades. It is no exaggeration to say that every street and alley in Baiyun City has his footprints. Almost all the people in Baiyun City have greeted him. He has long regarded Baiyun City as his. A place where fallen leaves return to their roots, not Taihu City, where we are going on this trip.
Although his ancestors of the Su family were indeed in Taihu City, the Su family suffered a disaster and was executed. Later, because the eldest brother Su Hanlin raised a flag to rebel, the nine Su family members were killed by the officials of the previous dynasty. Therefore, the Su family has no one in Taihu City. Half relative.
In addition, he was only eight years old when the Su family suffered disaster, so he did not have much memory of Taihu City, and what little he had was wasted in the subsequent wars between the north and the south.
Later, when the eldest brother Su Hanlin ascended the throne and proclaimed himself emperor, the tombs of the Su family's ancestors were moved to the imperial mausoleum in the imperial capital, and their spiritual tablets were also brought to the Ancestral Temple for enshrinement. As a result, the last connection between the Su family and Taihu City was severed.
For him, Taihu City was a tragic place where his family was broken up and people died. What was left to him was fear and coldness. So when his eldest brother Su Hanlin named him the King of Zhennan and asked him to choose a fiefdom, he would rather choose Baiyun City at random. I don’t want to go to Taihu City.
However, this trip was proposed by him on his own initiative. The reason was that no one could dissuade him from these four heavy words.
But in his heart, this is not a fallen leaf returning to its roots. It is clearly an exile and death in a foreign land.
Baiyun City is where Su Hanju's roots lie.
But he couldn't do it without leaving. He had no face to face the folks in Baiyun City, and no words to face the unjust souls who died in vain!
He felt guilty, ashamed, sad, self-blame, angry, sad——
These days and nights of torment made his spine, which had been straight all his life, collapse.
"Master, if you don't want to, we won't leave."
"You have lived in Baiyun City for most of your life. Your footprints are all over the streets and alleys. People all over the city know you. This is also your root."
The old servant saw tears welling up in Su Han's eyes and his expression was extremely sad, so he couldn't help but comfort him.
"How can I have the nerve to stay in Baiyun City? How can I face the innocent souls who died in vain? How can I face the sincere and kind smiles and eyes of the people of Baiyun City?" Su Hanju trembled with his lips, and his trembling voice was filled with guilt. and sadness.
"My lord!" The old servant couldn't laugh or cry. "No human power can stop natural disasters, wars and riots. My lord, to be disrespectful, you are already buried in the earth, but you still raise money for the people of the southern border." With your sword on your horse and your battle formation charging, you have done a good enough job."
He thought Su Hanju was feeling guilty and sad for the civilians who died in drought and war.
But I heard Su Hanju say in a low voice: "I heard all the secret conversation between you and Brother Zhang that night."
The old servant's heart skipped a beat when he heard this, and his expression suddenly stiffened.
A few days ago, Butcher Zhang came back from Yancheng and stayed overnight at Zhennan Palace.
That night, after waiting on Su Hanju to go to bed, Butcher Zhang found him, called him into the room, and asked him if he knew about Su Yang's evil deeds. He looked confused.
After listening to Zhang Butcher's story, he was so frightened that he broke out in cold sweat, and then he realized the sinful side of the prince Su Yang.
To be honest, if he hadn't been an old servant of the Zhennan Palace and had sworn to be loyal to Su Hanju and the Zhennan Palace, he would definitely have broken into the Zhennan Palace at night, killed Su Yang with the sword, and acted as justice for heaven.
He hated these scumbags who raised their butcher's knives against the defenseless people, and wished he could skin them all, because his hometown was also massacred in this way, and only five of the more than 600 people in the village were lucky enough to be recovered. A dog's life, he is one of them.
He felt like he deserved to die.
It's not because he can't kill Su Yang to do justice for heaven, but because he actually has murderous intentions towards Zhang Xiaopou and Niu Dawa. He wants to kill this matter and never let the world know about it, so that he can't hurt the old prince.
We have the same disease but no sympathy for each other.
He felt that he was completely unconscionable.
Fortunately, Butcher Zhang's cold and piercing eyes put an end to his impulsive and stupid thoughts.
Butcher Zhang's suggestion was to find a secluded place with beautiful scenery for Su Hanju to enjoy his old age in peace, out of sight and out of mind.
As for Su Yang, he must pay the price for the crimes he committed.
He could see from Butcher Zhang's angry eyes that if Su Yang was not Su Hanju's son, he would be the first to kill Su Yang.
So when Su Han said "I heard it all" at this time, the old servant was startled and suddenly understood.
No wonder Su Hanju has been depressed these days, no wonder he looks much older these days, no wonder he suddenly proposed to return to his roots after falling leaves, and his attitude was tough and resolute, it turned out to be because he heard everything.
Obviously, this old man who had been upright all his life suffered a lot of torture of conscience and torture of his soul in just a few days. In the end, his integrity and justice lost to selfishness, and he could not kill his relatives for justice.
So he suddenly became old, because he had been proud of his whole life and had a straight back.
"Master, you - ah -" the old servant was so sad that he burst into tears. He couldn't imagine how Su Hanju had been suffering these past few days, and he couldn't imagine what kind of guilt and uneasiness he was feeling on his conscience at this moment.
Once he left, it was destined that he would never be able to straighten his back and enter the coffin again.
He has no guarantee of success in his later life.
The old servant felt that it was too cruel to treat an old man who had lived his whole life for the country and the people, for justice in his heart, and for the conscience of heaven and earth!
Su Hanju took a deep breath and said in a deep voice: "I have asked someone. In the past ten years or so, a total of sixty-three villages have been massacred in the area from Baiyun City to Haoyue City. The murderer was never found, and in the end the crime was pinned on the bandits and robbers.”
"Ah?!" The old servant was startled because Butcher Zhang only told him about Liujia Village. When he heard the numbers coming out of Su Han's mouth, he was so frightened that all the hairs on his body stood up.
"Do you think Su Yang should die?!" Su Han suddenly raised his eyes wide and shouted loudly.
"Damn it!"
"I will never forgive my sin!" The old servant gritted his teeth.
"Yes, he deserves to die!" Su Han gritted his teeth and clenched his fists, but after a moment he smiled bitterly, slapped himself more than ten times in the face, and said in pain: "But I can't do it, I can't do it!"
"All I can do is to be like a turtle, hiding my head in its shell and pretending that I don't know what to do."
"I, Su Han, stand tall and upright, and I have been a man all my life, but at the end of my life, I have to shrink my head!"
"Ridiculous! Tragic! Poor! Even more hateful!"
The old servant looked at Su Han's expression of pain and was very heartbroken, and quickly comforted him: "It's the sin of that bastard Su Yang, not your fault, sir."
"It's the son's fault if he doesn't teach his father, I can't escape the responsibility!" Su Han shook his head and lamented.
Silence fell in the car.
After a long while, Su Hanju said weakly: "I brought Qian'er and Mo'er with me on this trip. It was said that I wanted them to spend time with me, but in fact, I wanted them to stay with me and educate them well. These two good children cannot be taken away by that evil beast. evil ways."
Qian'er and Mo'er are Su Yang's two sons. The elder is four years old and the younger is only two years old.
"It can be regarded as protecting the heirs of the evil beast, so that no one will come looking for revenge and kill the whole family."
"According to what Brother Zhang said, I still have three to five years to live. Shunzi, please listen carefully." Su Hanju suddenly ordered the old servant.
"Sir, please speak." The old servant responded.
"After I die, you quietly return to Baiyun City. If the evil beast is still alive and still doing evil, you help me kill him! Is it possible?" Su Hanju asked.
"I obey the master's instructions." The old servant took the order.
Su Hanju shook his head and smiled, and said: "It's hard for you. Follow me and endure your anger. Otherwise, you would have killed the evil beast with one blow and done justice for heaven."
"Old servant dare not."
"Haha, you have been with me all your life, how can I not know your temper?"
…
Baiyun City, Zhennan Palace.
"My young prince, before I left, I left a letter and asked my old servant to deliver it to you." An old servant knocked on the door of Su Yang's study, holding a letter in his hand.
"Come in." Su Yang responded, stood up curiously, walked out from behind the desk, and took two steps forward to greet him.
He took out the letter paper from the envelope, unfolded it and scanned it in front of his eyes. Su Yang's eyes widened in fright, and he broke out in cold sweat.
I saw seven large characters written on the letter paper as sharp as a sword: You evil beast, you deserve death!
The calligraphy is undoubtedly that of his father, Su Hanju.
Su Yang held the letter in both hands, trembling with fear, dripping with cold sweat, and feeling like he was being washed with water in just a few breaths.
He rushed out of the study and listened carefully. He didn't hear the sound of his father Su Han's motorcade returning home, and he breathed a sigh of relief.
Immediately, he seemed to be angry because of his own panic. He crumpled the letter paper into a ball three or two times, and suddenly squeezed his fingers together. The scraps of paper flew out from between his fingers, and scattered into the air casually. He sneered: "Sure enough, A tiger without teeth loses the domineering power of a king! Aren't they just a few pariahs? To die under the little king's iron cavalry is a glorious sacrifice for training powerful knights for the empire, and it is their honor and luck!"
"Yinglong hasn't come back to regain his sight for so long. I'm afraid the situation is already in danger."
"If I had known this, I should have crushed you two to death!"
…
Snapped!
In Su Mou's room, Qin Xinru was slapped on the ground by him. He exuded a frightening aura of violence. He stared at Qin Xinru with gloomy eyes and asked again: "I'll ask you for the last time, why did you kill the Bai family?" Bai Qingqing? Think about it carefully, if there is even a half-word lie, just don’t mention the marriage between us."
Qin Xinru lay on the cold ground, covering her burning cheek with one hand, looking at Su Mou in disbelief. She never thought that Su Mou would hit her, and he would hit her so hard.
But her grievance and anger all turned into panic as Su Mou pressed her again.
